Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly today swore in a new class of 1,905 New York Police Department (NYPD) recruits. Today's class has the highest percentage of minorities ever to be hired in a single class with 56% minority graduates. Twenty three percent of the class earned Associates Degrees and 30% earned Baccalaureate Degrees. Moreover, 41 recruits have either a Masters Degree or are currently enrolled in a Masters program. The swearing-in ceremony took place at Brooklyn College.

"I am proud to swear in today's 1,905 recruits as they join New York's Finest," said Mayor Bloomberg. "They join a police department that has consistently kept New York City the safest big City in America, and they have done so while also facing the threat of terrorism. Thanks to their hard work, the City is the safest it has been since the 1960s. I'm confident that today's class will use the training they will receive from the Police Academy and serve the City with bravery, honor and dedication."

"This new class joins the Police Department at a challenging time and perhaps the most important in our history," said Commissioner Kelly. "In addition to fighting crime to the lowest levels in recent history, the members of the Department have taken up nothing less than the national responsibility of protecting the financial and communications center of the world from another terrorist attack."

This class of recruits is the second class to be sworn in 2005. The hiring of two classes each year will help keep the headcount and patrol strength level throughout the year, and has been standard practice for the NYPD since 2004. The average age of this class is 27 years old. The following is a breakdown of gender and ethnicity of the 1,905 recruits being sworn in: